Trump Pick Joe Kent Backs Madison Cawthorn's Attack on 'Thug' Zelensky

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-pick-joe-kent-backs-madison-cawthorn-comments-thug-zelensky-1687494

Joe Kent, a Trump-endorsed congressional candidate from Washington state, on Saturday backed up remarks from Representative Madison Cawthorn, who called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "thug."

In a video clip published on Thursday by local news station WRAL-TV, Cawthorn, a North Carolina Republican, is seen insulting Zelensky, who has received bipartisan praise for leading Ukraine during the Russian invasion that began last month.

"Remember that Zelensky is a thug," he said. "Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies."

Kent, who is challenging GOP Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler, tweeted on Saturday that Cawthorn "nailed it."

FACT CHECK: Trump’s Florence rally contained false, misleading claims

 https://www.wbtw.com/news/pee-dee/florence/fact-check-trumps-florence-rally-contained-false-misleading-claims/

Former president Donald Trump held a rally Saturday in Florence which contained false and misleading claims.

Below is a look at some of the claims made during the rally.

Ukrainian ambassador to Israel files suit against Interior Min.

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/323798

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, has appealed on behalf of the Ukrainian Embassy to the Israeli Supreme Court against the policies of the Israeli government and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked (Yamina).

The person representing the Ukrainian embassy during the trial is lawyer Tomer Warsaw, who claims that with the word "quotas," the Interior Minister creates a smokescreen that actually hides behind a violation of international conventions and law.

The Ambassador wrote in a statement: "The Ministry of the Interior's new policy violates agreements between Ukraine and Israel regarding exemption from visas for Ukrainian citizens. In light of exhaustion of all the diplomatic possibilities, the Embassy had no choice but to request that the Warsaw Law Office petition the Supreme Court against the new plan in order to protect the rights of Ukrainian citizens."

Swedish Jewish man denied entry to bus due to Jewish symbol on clothing

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-701034

“But then the driver shouted at me that I had to get off, because other passengers did not like that I was Jewish” the man wrote, adding that the driver insisted that he leave the bus.

Charedim say thanks for their warm welcome in Southend

 https://www.thejc.com/news/community/charedim-say-thanks-for-their-warm-welcome-in-southend-4uOp0bdveLDWrBPtOYL2Ft

A representative of Southend’s new Chasidic community spoke at an interfaith gathering as part of a series of events to mark the former town’s upgrade to a city.

The award of city status was granted last autumn as a tribute to local MP Sir David Amess, killed in an attack last year, who had been an ardent campaigner for it.

The Chasidic representative was Binyonim Bineth, who observed: “As newcomers to Southend, the Chasidic community has not only been accepted — we have been embraced.

“Southend stands as a beacon of light in its inclusivity and its vision for the future.”

Belz Chasidim from Stamford Hill began moving into the seaside resort around six years ago.

Cheney, Kinzinger Blast Madison Cawthorn for 'Echoing Putin Propaganda'

 https://www.newsweek.com/cheney-kinzinger-blast-madison-cawthorn-echoing-putin-propaganda-1687160

Local North Carolina news station WRAL on Thursday published the video clip of Cawthorn at a recent event criticizing Ukraine and the Eastern European nation's president after Russia's internationally condemned invasion of the country began on February 24.

"Remember that Zelensky is a thug," the Republican congressman said in the video. "Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and is incredibly evil and has been pushing woke ideologies."

Antisemitism in Ukraine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Ukraine

The issue of Antisemitism in Ukraine received worldwide attention in 2022, when Vladimir Putin's Russia invaded Ukraine while he was alleging the need to "de-nazify" the country and its government.[51]

Henry Abramson, an expert on Ukrainian-Jewish history, says that many Jews around the world were surprised by the 2019 Ukrainian Presidential election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy because of "the stereotype of prevailing Ukrainian Antisemitism." According to Abramson, Zelensky's "Jewishness has not stood in the way of his being accepted as a symbol of the nation. (...) It is remarkable but not necessarily mind-blowing to see a Jew in the position as leader of Ukraine. It has happened several times before that Jews have been involved in the tight leadership of this country, particularly over the last century."[52]

According to Abramson, "Here in the West, there is a deep-seated stereotype of Ukrainian Antisemitism. It is particularly true of the children of Holocaust Survivors, who grew up in the diaspora, for two reasons. First of all, there was some degree of Ukrainian collaboration with the Nazis. That is, of course, Putin's go-to line which is absolutely absurd and offensive that Ukraine needs to be De-Nazified. That's ridiculous."

"The second reason for this stereotype is that Jews in the diaspora have been separated from the day-to-day of Ukrainian life" says Abramson, and because of the assumption that the historical and present relationship between Jews and Ukrainians over thousands of years can be forever tarnished and defined by the handful of incidents he lists, such as:

Israel said to turn away 200 Ukrainian refugees as policy continues to cause uproar

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-to-turn-away-200-ukrainian-refugees-as-policy-continues-to-cause-uproar/

Families of the refugees said that those who arrived in Israel under the Law of Return, which grants them eligibility for Israeli citizenship, were also among those forced to wait. Another person waiting for his family to be processed said that many in the airport said they were willing to go back to Ukraine after the treatment they received.

Republican Kinzinger: I should have voted to impeach Trump over Ukraine

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/12/kinzinger-republican-impeach-trump-ukraine-putin-madison-cawthorn

“It’s important for political leaders to be transparent and admit regret when needed. The bottom line, Donald Trump withheld lethal aid to Ukraine so he could use it as leverage for his campaign. This is a shameful and illegal act, directly hurting the Ukraine defense today.

“I wish I could go back in time and vote for it, but I cannot. What we can do now is to ensure that this never happens again, and that we all put the interests of our nation above our party. Alexander Vindman [a White House official who was fired for opposing Trump’s Ukraine scheme] and others deserve our appreciation.”

Saudi Arabia mass executes 81 people

 https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/597963-saudi-arabia-mass-executes-81-people

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday carried out a mass execution of 81 people, the country’s state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.

The 81 individuals were convicted of terrorism and capital crimes, including the murder of innocent men, women and children, according to Saudi’s Ministry of Interior.

The executed individuals were “guilty of committing multiple heinous crimes that left a large number of civilians and law enforcement officers dead," according to the Press Agency,

In addition to murder, the convictions also included kidnapping, torture, rape and smuggling weapons and bombs into the country.

From the Newmaverse: Democrats, Republicans and gas prices

 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/from-the-newmaverse-democrats-republicans-and-gas-prices-133921112.html

A lot of Biden critics and Democrat-haters seem to think Republican presidents keep gas prices low while Democrats send them higher. In a way, that squares with Biden’s effort to reduce fossil-fuel use and pivot to renewables.

But are gas prices really higher under Democratic presidents? Not by much. To answer the question, you have to analyze gas prices in constant dollars, adjusted for inflation, since the nominal price of many things goes up over time. Adjusting for inflation tells us how much things in the past would cost in today’s dollars.

Under Democrats Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and now Joe Biden, the average gas price has been $2.96 per gallon, in 2022 dollars. Under Republicans Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, the average price was $2.84. So yeah, gas prices are higher under Democrats … by 12 cents.

Gas prices: New York Times 'fact check' says Republicans 'wrongly blame Biden' for surge at the pump

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/gas-prices-biden-new-york-times-fact-check

"These claims are misleading," Qiu wrote in bold text. "The primary reason for rising gas prices over the past year is the coronavirus pandemic and its disruptions to global supply and demand." She then cited GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan, who said, "The pandemic brought us to our knees" and pointed to production of U.S. oil which fell in the final months of the Trump presidency. De Haan also told the Times that Biden's actions on U.S. energy played a "very, very small role pushing gas prices up."

AP FACT CHECK: House GOP falsely blames Biden for gas prices

 https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-lifestyle-health-coronavirus-pandemic-prices-084a908ac2850e8690a822d6c7f56301

THE FACTS: Biden’s policies aren’t behind the price increases. Gas prices are up because of a rapid and unexpected bounce-back in demand, and because of lingering problems from the forced shutdown early this month of the Colonial Pipeline, which provides 45% of the fuel consumed on the East Coast.

McCarthy’s comparison to a year ago is also misleading. Gasoline prices didn’t fall at the time because of the Trump administration, as Trump often claims; they plunged because of the coronavirus forcing people to abandon their offices, schools, business trips and vacations. Underscoring the connection to the pandemic shutdown, U.S. gas prices were at their lowest in April 2020 when people were staying home most but have mostly risen since then, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration, even when Trump was still in office.

In recent weeks, the biggest factor has been the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline. Even though it has been back in operation for nearly two weeks, many states, mostly in the South, still haven’t fully recovered.

GOP attacks on Biden for high gas prices don't add up, expert says

 https://news.yahoo.com/gop-attacks-on-biden-for-high-gas-prices-dont-add-up-expert-says-161903465.html

On Wednesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy delivered a speech in which he asserted that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was not the reason for high gas prices — Biden's energy policies were. To back up his claim, McCarthy asserted that gas prices "started rising the day President Biden took office.""

The first thing is, that’s factually inaccurate," Knittel said. "Gas prices actually started rising in November of the previous year. That’s just data, so you can graph gas prices and you’ll see them starting to trend up in November of 2020."